Lipstick Scare

A recent report of lead in several lipsticks left many women alarmed—yet confused about just how alarmed they should be. In fact, the danger is negligible, according to William I. Manton, professor of geosciences at the University of Texas at Dallas, who has studied lead exposure. When the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics ordered an independent test of 33 lipsticks, 61 percent had discernible lead (results are at safecosmetics.org). There should be none, since "it's obviously possible to make a lead-free lipstick," says spokeswoman Stacy Malkan, author of Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry (New Society Publishers). Still, Manton says the level found does not pose a significant risk, even for pregnant women and children. Though the lead content of some lipsticks was greater than the FDA limit for candy, "the amount of candy ingested per week greatly exceeds that of lipstick," he notes. Even if a woman eats four pounds of lipstick in her life (a popular belief cited in the report), that would contribute a minuscule amount to her total lead exposure, he says. "In short, I don't think women have anything to worry about."